2023-09-21 22:16:13
Chimpanzees, red colobus monkeys, mandrills: French customs say they discovered 392 skulls of monkeys under species protection in packages at the airport within seven months last year. As customs officials told reporters at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport on Thursday, the bones were intended for collectors in the United States who wanted to use them to decorate cabinets of curiosities or use them as trophies.
The skulls, which mainly come from Cameroon, are now to be handed over to the Museum of Natural History in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, where they will be scientifically examined.
Suspicion: “massacre” in forests
The first skull bones were discovered in packages at the Paris airport at the beginning of May 2022, after which similar discoveries increased. During the same period, the bones of other illegally traded animals were also discovered, totaling 718 animal skulls.
The fact that hundreds of primate skulls were confiscated within such a short period of time gives rise to fears of a “massacre” in the forests of the affected countries, explained monkey researcher Sabrina Krief about the finds. These would be “looted” to satisfy the needs of collectors.
The smuggling of protected animal species is one of the most profitable criminal activities after the trafficking of drugs, weapons and human trafficking, said the head of the customs authority at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Gilbert Beltran, on Thursday in front of hundreds of primate skulls lined up. The annual business volume of this “dirty trade” is estimated at eight to 20 billion euros annually.
Customs investigator Fabrice Gayet, who specializes in wildlife smuggling, assumes sales prices start at 50 euros per piece for small primates and up to 1,000 euros for chimpanzees. The animals are hunted primarily for their meat; the sale of the skulls is a kind of secondary use.
Published/Updated: Published/Updated: Thilo Thielke, Cape Town Published/Updated: Recommendations: 24
The skulls confiscated by French customs come from non-human primates protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). Cites regulates international trade in more than 38,000 endangered animal and plant species; trade in them is only permitted under strict conditions.
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